For the past 19 years, the annual Boston Bacterial Meeting (BBM) has brought together researchers involved in all areas of microbiology, attracting attendees from both within and outside of New England. The primary goals of the BBM are to foster collaboration among New England-based microbiology laboratories, to grant students and postdoctoral fellows opportunities to present their research and meet established professors, and to introduce new researchers to the New England microbiology community. The nearly 500 participants each year represent over 100 academic and biotechnology institutions with research topics ranging from basic microbial physiology to infectious disease. The BBM achieves its goals through a broad topic range and a format that encourages interaction among participants. Unique for conferences of its size, the BBM offers talks only to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. For many young researchers, for whom major international meetings may not be an option, the meeting is a vital opportunity to practice scientific communication and to introduce themselves to the rich bacteriological research community that the conference draws upon for attendees. The two-day program features short oral presentations, two afternoon poster sessions, evening receptions, and a keynote lecture by a leading professor. Professors also moderate each session, participate in the question and answer sections following talks, and attend the poster sessions and receptions. Our emphasis on communication and interaction within the broad scope of microbiology is a major strength for advancing research in health care and infectious diseases. By bringing basic scientists into contact with medical microbiologists, the BBM fosters technology transfer between the basic and applied microbiology fields, thereby suggesting new and creative approaches to studying and managing infectious disease. Furthermore, by targeting young researchers, we believe that the conference presents a unique opportunity to seed new ideas amongst researchers who are just starting their careers, meaning that entire dissertations, postdoctoral projects, or laboratories may be set up around novel approaches to understanding the impact of microbes on human health and on the environment.